The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1887-03-03
THELIcENsE CUES TON

No citizen who. In the interests o
his town and county, and ont OF res
pect for the rights of every American
citizen. is. In the pending agitation
an advocate of the saloons" as on
friends, the prohibitionists are pleas
ed to term it-can afford to close hi
eyes to the fact that he is on the un
popular side of the question, against
which an eloquent appeal to the pas
sions Of men has far greater weigh,
than plain, honest discussion OF the
open question with all its merits and
its dement's.
Let us say in passing that the ''nt
license" people make mistake
| in CHASING all advocates of the sa
loon" in this campaign as "men who
are directly or indirectly interested
| in the sale of intoxicants, or who
stand back and fleece the poor victim
| when liquor has done its work." II
Is a grave mistake, and one OF which
the. many honorable citizens of our
little village, who oppose prohibition
from principle and not from personal
interest or for gain. will apprist
them with some emphasis on election
day.
It Is amusing to listen to the theor'
izing of these no license people on
the great moral benefits to accrue
from their success in this fight. Will
they guarantee that if the saloons are
voted out the lover of alcoholic drinks
will not get his regular booze" when
he visits this sanity burg! or. will
they even give any assurance that the
habitual drunkard will not succumb
to his predominating vice on our very
streets! In the light of general ex.
perience they cannot guarantee even
this much.
The tippler will tipple. the drunk
ard will have his regular spree even
though it be given out to the world in
the most emphatic terms that Morris
is no license town.
We have only to do away with the
fragrant violations Of the ordinances
In allowing and encouraging young
boys to frequent and patronize saloons
to destroy the main spring which
keeps in action the present opposition
to the saloon business in this village.
Every true man. every voter who
cares to see the youth of the present
day grow to be respected citizen, a
credit to himself, his friends and his
country will heartily cooperate in
every reasonable effort to achieve
this very desirable end. But in or.
der to do this it is not necessary for
us to tamper with the God-give en-
right of every man to exercise his
own free will. and prohibit business
made legitimate by act of the legisla-
ture now in session at the capital OF
this state.
A strict enforcement of the village
ordinances would do all the good in
this respect that is claimed for any
prohibition measure.
AS for the assertion that prohibit.
tion would be blessing to those who
have grown to maturity, when all be
ings who are entitled to be called
men have a will power of their own
the following extract from the Angus
ia, Ga. Eagle is a very good answer
To put an injunction on thirsty
mans throat and a lock upon hi!
mouth. is not within the province OF
law. He himself controls the en-
trance to his stomach and no law fran
/ ed by man can ever take the key away
from him. The only aaw that can re
deem humanity. in this respect, is
the law that will make every man ;
law unto himself-gu ard!an of hi
own passions aud appetites, and mas
| ter of his acts and desires IN spite O
temptations. He must be taught t.
| Shun LIQUOR of his own accord. be
cause it is wrong and injurious, ant
not be fenced off from it like an an
| imal from corn field. Man Ia ar
animal that no fence can hold ant
the sooner the people realize the fac
the better.
Aside from the morality feature Q
this no license discussion, as a ques
tion of great Importance every We te
should consider seriously what weul
be the effect upon the busine ss inter
ests of this community In springinl
sud denly upon it prohibition law
There would be far less money in cir
culation. and rs natural consequence
the pr resent business depression an
inactivity would be more oppressiv
than it has been; certainly a condi
tion not to be desired. 1t is castin
no reflection whatever Oh any one ct
say that there are many men in thi
county, not excessive drinkers, VIII
relish and enjoy glass Of beer o
other liquor. and these IA en-wh
represent large percentage Of tn
drinking population-will have llquo
whether they can get it in Morris o.
not.
It's commonly asserted as an argu
ment against saloons that there ar
farmers who so fe ar the temptatio